The
bottom extraction gaps are closing! Really truly closing! I
know I said they were closing a few months ago, but it turns
out that the teeth were tilting inward, creating the illusion
of a closed gap. However, NOW, they are truly closing, once
and for all! One gap is closed, the other is like 85% of the
way there! OK, I give it 2 months, tops, before those bottom
extraction gaps are history!

It's
hard to believe that I've had this stuff on my teeth for two
years. Am I tired of having it? Yes. Am I used to it? Yes.
Would I be upset if Dr. Vogt told me that I needed to wear the
braces until the Fall? Not really. At this point, sure, I'm
tired of all the gunk getting stuck in my teeth, but I'm used
to it. It's a fact of life. Of course, I'll be really happy
when I don't have to deal with it anymore. But for now, I'll
continue living with it for as long as is necessary.

********

In
honor of Valentine's Day this month, I decided to make a poll
to see if having braces interferes with your romantic
conquests. It has been a subject of ongoing debate on the
Forum almost from day one.

********

As
you can see, the ads are up on the home page of the site. I
hope they aren't too bothersome for anyone. I have a few deals
in the works to put a few more ads where the blanks now
are.

Another
change in the site this month involves the Photo Gallery. I
decided to stop accepting new photos for a while. There are
many reasons for this decision, such as space, time, and bogus
photos being posted (or almost posted). If your photo and
story are already in the Gallery, you can send updates, which
I will post. But for the time being, I won't post any photos
or stories of new people.

********

My
younger daughter just got her first cavity filled this week. I
suppose we've been lucky avoiding cavities for so many years
in both kids.

The
techniques they use these days are so terrific. Her dentist
used "laughing gas" to help somewhat sedate her. She
was awake but a speck groggy, and she had no idea that she got
a needle of Novocain. She came through it all just fine, and
happily plundered the toy chest when it was all finished.
She's a very fastidious kid, and was really upset about the
cavity. However, upon learning that it was a baby tooth, she
was relieved that she now gets a "second chance"
once the permanent one grows in!

********

By
the way, I've slightly re-designed the Orthodontic Supply
section of DentaKit and added a few new products, including
regular and cherry scented dental wax and threader floss. I
plan to add a few more helpful products in the coming weeks.
If there is a product you'd like DentaKit to carry, please let
me know and I'll consider it.

I
know there's only one entry for February, but it was a rather
quiet month!

Yessirree,
the extraction gaps are going, going, gone! By the end of this
month, the lower gap will be completely closed. I'd say that
there's only 1 to 2 mm of movement left for that one stubborn
gap. It's very exciting to look in my mouth and see all those
bottom teeth together, and straight! It's like the extractions
never happened!

In
my most recent appointment with Dr. Vogt, he once again bent
the arch wires a bit here and there to tweak the teeth. The
gap that had developed between my two front top teeth is gone
-- it disappeared within 24 hours of the adjustment. And there
are subtle changes to a few of the other teeth, which result
in my teeth (in general) looking straighter and nicer.

Of
course, I was in some pain for a few days after the
adjustment, but it quickly went away.

Dr.
Vogt wants me to continue wearing the elastics at night, which
I am happy to do.

So
of course, I'm getting really excited now, because it has been
more than 2 years since treatment began, and those gaps are
almost closed. I asked Dr. Vogt when the braces could come
off, and he said, with a laugh, "Sometime before the end
of the year!" But, but.....this summer? Will they be able
to come off this summer as I'd been hoping? Well, Dr.
Vogt would not commit to that. He said that although the major
work is now done, there are small technical problems that must
be fixed first...slightly rotating this tooth, correcting the
blah blah blah on that tooth, etc. *sigh*

OK,
whatever. I AM used to wearing the braces, but when the end is
within sight, you start to feel antsy about it. It's not the
maintenance that gets to me, it's the stupid little
inconveniences. Like biting into a sandwich in public and
being aware that I have disgusting guck all over my front
brackets. And having to carefully plan when I eat curry, so
that I don't walk around with gross-looking yellowish
ligatures for weeks. And needing to spend a small fortune on
electric toothbrush head replacements. OK, and flossing is a
big pain, but I'm used to that already.

********

The
results of our February Romance and Braces poll was
interesting. A total of 34 percent said that it was harder to
get dates with braces. But combined, 43 percent said that it
was either "about the same" or "easier" to
get dates with braces. (The other 23% had no opinion).

This
should be at least a tiny bit encouraging to our
single, dating readers. The results were not an
overwhelming, "braces have totally screwed up my love
life" response. I hope this helps to quell some of the
anxiety that some of you feel. I know it's still not easy, but
please try not to fret as much about it.

********

A
special shout out to all of our Irish readers this month. Happy
St. Patrick's Day to you! I hope you'll be doing some
wearen' of the green....ligatures, that is, not lettuce stuck
in your brackets! ;-)

********

If
you've been reading this journal for a while, you may remember
that my mother-in-law (who is in her mid-70s) has periodontal
disease and needed a full set of upper dentures last year.
Well, things haven't improved for her. She has a lot of
implants where her lower teeth used to be, and now that is all
infected and must be removed. When all is said and done, she
will have 5 natural teeth left at the front of her mouth. The
lower bone is very badly infected, which poses a huge problem
for the dentist who makes her denture.

As
if this weren't bad enough, the poor woman fell and broke her
hip on Saturday (yes, two days ago). Fortunately, she is in an
assisted living facility and got help immediately. She will be
in the hospital most of this month, either in the hospital
unit, or (later) in the rehab unit. You can imagine how
difficult this is for Hubby and me, because we are the only
family she has around here, and the hospital is 10 miles from
our house. A huge burden, to say the least.

********

Just
to let you guys and gals know, I plan to add a few at-home
braces care products to the DentaKit lineup soon. Among the
new products will be long-handled dental picks and spiral
brushes from Denticator, as well as replacement tips of all
types.

There
is also a neat product that Mary in Oregon called to my
attention: The Fresh-n-Go toothbrush. This is a toothbrush
with about 30 applications of mint toothpaste built into the
handle. You turn the handle and some of the toothpaste comes
up. Then when the toothpaste is used up, you throw it out. The
Fresh-n-go is quite affordable and a nice alternative for
travel (or something to throw in your purse or you kid's
backpack). The kid's version comes with bubblegum toothpaste,
which my kids have given an enthusiastic thumbs-up.